McFadden, who is based in Warrnambool, finished 14^th in the B-main at Knoxville in his first American race of the season on Saturday.

The two-time South West Conveyancing Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic champion finished third in the C-main, advancing to the B-main, but couldn't push on for A-main honours in the 360 nationals.

"Rough first weekend back in the US," McFadden said via Facebook.

"The driver had a few cobwebs to blow out. I found car speed and felt comfortable by the end of the night.

"We just dug too big of a hole in qualifying on night one."

McFadden said he was looking ahead to further race dates in a 410 sprintcar.

Fellow Australian Kerry Madsen, who is originally from Sydney, secured victory in the A-main.

Madsen, a three-time grand annual champion, led all 25 laps to claim the $USD25,000 prize.

"(The car) was pretty smooth," he told knoxvilleraceway.com.

"I made a couple of minor mistakes, but it seemed like everywhere I went, it would respond.

"It was fun to drive.

"We've been knocking on the door so much this year... It was just great to give this to (the team).

"We had a different car for next week, but I might tell them to bring that one back. It was good."

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